Australian disabled people deserve to not only have an insurance scheme that will assist them actively engage in the community and be supported with their disabilities, they don't need to be used as a political football by the Government for sake of politics.
Its time big business gave something back to Australia!

Ensuring this project fully complies with environmental and social requirements is important for two reasons.
1. Limestone mining for the production of cement can have negative impacts on local water resources including degradation of marine and ground water as well air pollution, both of which threaten the delicate 'Karst ecology' in the area and the health of the local subsistence communities.
2. The Australian government has form when it comes to supporting its corporations in their determination to extract resources from weaker neighbours to the detriment of these 'partners'. The most recent example being the ongoing 'negotiation' over shares in Timor sea oil which the Australian government has been forced to reopen after the shabby treatment and spying Timor-Leste was subjected to the first time around was brought to light.
While Timor-leste, as a developing nation, requires cement, jobs and investment to aid its development, the long term environmental and health/social damage, including stunted growth in children and the poor financial return to Timor-Leste relative to TL cement and Australia, outweighs the short term benefits.
It is also grossly unfair and hypocritical for Australia to profit from the abnegation of its responsibilities as a modern, wealthy power in the Asia pacific region.
Australian corporations and their tame governments should not be able to act as though our neighbours where colonies ripe for plunder. If we are sincere in our desire to assist Timor-Leste's development, BGC/TL cement must be required to strictly abide by any health, environmental and social recommendations and split the profits of the operation fairly with their partners.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and all Australians can't currently celebrate Australia Day on January 26. It's a date for white settlement and 'Invasion' from 1788. It has been a day of mourning formally since 1938. We must change the date! #changethedate to March 3rd

Nuclear weapons are the only weapons of mass destruction not yet prohibited under international law. But the UN is now working to fix that.
Negotiations will take place in New York in March, June and July 2017 on a "legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons".
The United States, which possesses a staggering 6,800 nuclear weapons, has instructed its allies, including Australia, to boycott the negotiations.
But Australia, as a sovereign nation, should decide for itself whether to participate. The government should listen to its people.
We are under no illusion that this treaty will guarantee the elimination of nuclear weapons overnight. But it is a necessary and urgent starting point.

Australia has a $3 billion problem of phoenix companies.
Know anyone that's lost money to a company going "broke" only to see a similar business start trading again as if nothing happened? When this is done deliberately, it is known as 'phoenix activity' and costs Australians $3 billion each year. It affects thousands of people and it can happen to anyone at anytime. It causes approximately 100 times the devastation of our typical street robberies.
It typically involves 'friendly administrators' or 'friendly liquidators', terms which have now become common when doing business in Australia, however, illegal phoenix companies are a serious crime.
It is meant to be enforced by ASIC, but ASIC takes no meaningful action.

Where else can an Australian audience get the variety and depth of views and visions and above all the stimulation of such a range of ideas?
Where else is there such a range of respected specialist journalists who cover everything from arts to science and religion to rock?
Why is the ABC accused of left-wing bias when it shows opinions of all spectra and gives voice - although not as much as it could or should - to those who don't have access to commercial media.
Why don't the Board and your minister develop pride in this unique and irreplaceable institution and those who work for it, instead of white-anting and undermining the amazingly talented a dedicated staff?
There is no place for Information and enlightenment in the categories below but the ABC covers them all so I've ticked them all!

This is important because the ABC Science Unit is the only source of independent and objective science journalism remaining in Australia.
It provides unbiased advice on all the important topical stories, as well as the latest trends from overseas. It is critical that we keep it alive.

Politicians tell us they can't take climate emergency action to protect us all from climate impacts until the public demands it. Yet large sections of the public are lulled into thinking it can't be all that bad since neither politicians nor the media are reporting on climate impacts or discussing solutions.
Our public broadcasters, ABC and SBS, might be the only body that is sufficiently trusted and powerful to break this impasse by reporting honestly and regularly about climate impacts and climate solutions.
The public need to know about current and future impacts in order to be motivated to act, and need to know we have the solutions at our fingertips in order to take action themselves and demand government action instead of 'switching off'.
Join us in calling for honest and thorough climate emergency reporting from the ABC and SBS. And when you have signed this petition, please also consider signing the Climate Emergency Declaration and Mobilisation petition at www.ClimateEmergencyDeclaration.org/sign
» Read more on www.climatesafety.info/publicbroadcasters (main page)
www.climatesafety.info/climateactionstalemate (article)
and www.climatesafety.info/radiorelay (radio interviews)

Australia's heritage system is set up so that certain individual property owners are forced to bear the costs of heritage conservation for the rest of the general public. It is not fair, or ethical and some people are cracking under pressure of this large financial burden. The individual heritage property owner is often put at a large financial disadvantage through serious devaluation of property price (by over 25% on average calculated by Herron Todd White – Australia’s largest independent property valuation and advisory group in Australia) (Australian Government Productivity Commission, 2006, Conservation of Australia's Historic Heritage Places - Productivity Commission Inquiry Report No.37, Canberra, Media and Publications Productivity Commission, p.164, Box 7.3), higher maintenance or restoration costs due to the requirement for specialised tradespeople, additional administrative costs, limitations on the ability to modify or adapt the property and limitations on the ability to develop the site. What usually then occurs is that heritage listed properties are often neglected and run into disrepair. So, not only does Australia’s heritage system cause financial devastation to hundreds of families, but it doesn’t even work to conserve our heritage!
This needs to change. There are more progressive heritage systems employed by other countries (in particular Colorado, USA) which work, and Australia needs to follow their lead. Their private heritage property owners have adequate financial support and great tax incentives, so people try to nominate their own property to be on their national heritage register! People look after their heritage property because it is in their best interests to. This is unlike the situation in Australia where heritage funding is minimal and therefore the reliance is on owners of heritage properties to pay for all/most of the bill and suffer the devaluation in their property value. Resentment against heritage listing is increasing in Australia, and without financial help people will naturally neglect their heritage listed property because it just costs too much. It's time to take a stand, so please support our campaign by adding your name below and click on on 'Good vs Bad Heritage Systems' at http://heritagepainoz.my-free.website to learn more.

Although we're now 20 years late, excesses of climate change can still be tamed, even if our world is changed, for the worse, forever.
How about you enact Drastic Action immediately, before it gets impossibly expensive? Take this pledge so they know you feel Lucky Country is at risk, fast running out of luck.
Are big budget jet fighters and submarines any defence against real and present threat of climate change? Please take this pledge.

Please sign and share this Charter, if- like me- you're worried about the world, Australia and how our politicians act.
There is something very wrong with politics, and I think it will take ordinary people acting smart, acting strong and acting together to better it. The Charter is intended as a focusing point to unite enough people's energy and ideas in one place so as to effect change.
The idea is to address the underlying system rather than the many bad issues which arise from the system; to change the landscape of citizen engagement with governance so as to get better outcomes.

20% of Australians have a disability. These members of our community, along with their families and friends, are excluded from the basic joy of visiting a public playground.
Including people with disabilities does not cost more. It takes more time to consider the needs and think about access and inclusion at the planning stage; but the infrastructure does not cost more.
We need you to help us to get the local governments across Australia to agree to legislate inclusion in all new playspaces. The only cost for this legislation is the exclusion of hundreds of thousands of Australians.